Guerrilla Lawfare

Dave and I met with Internal Affairs today regarding DUI checkpoints. Two folks showed up, a Detective and a Sergeant. They were both very pleasant to deal with and seemed to be in a good mood, but I am not so naive that I don’t realize at least a part of their good attitude was their police training to disarm a person they’re interrogating (good cop/good cop)

But if we can trust anything they said, I like to think there are some positive changes coming our way. They listened to our complaints and justifications and promised follow up on many of our points, including some things not raised as allegations in our original complaint. They even promised follow up on a previous IA complaint.

We also discussed a few of the problems I have with Internal Affairs. Specifically, I do not like receiving form letters. I realize they deal with a lot of complaints, but I am alleging I am the victim of police misconduct, and it would be nice to have a personalized response. They explained many of the investigations result in informal action being taken within the department. This informal action may be a good enough result to the complaint, but it’s never revealed to the public. Hopefully one day, Internal Affairs will be a bit more forthcoming with complainants and that openness will improve trust of the department.

From the meeting today, I’m hoping for a few things:

1.) DUI Checkpoints will be run in full compliance with state regulations and federal guidelines and Metro’s policy will be updated to reflect these.
2.) Metro will reconsider the use of checkpoints. With more effective means of capturing impaired drivers, it’s a possibility Metro will start a trend of reducing alcohol related fatalities by using the most effective methods of DUI investigation, which doesn’t include checkpoints.
3.) Metro will be more forthcoming and transparent in their investigations into officer misconduct.